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Harley-Davidson Names
CEO Teerlink as Chairman

MILWAUKEE --
Harley-Davidson Inc.
said it named Chief Executive Officer Richard F. Teerlink to the additional post of chairman of the motorcycle manufacturer.

Mr. Teerlink, 59 years old, succeeds Vaughn Beals, 68, who will continue as a director and chairman emeritus. Mr. Beals, who led the leveraged buyout of Harley-Davidson in 1981, retired as its chief executive in 1989. The company went public in 1986.

At the annual shareholders meeting Saturday, Harley-Davidson also announced that it will build its first manufacturing plant in nearly four decades. The plant, which is scheduled to open in Kansas City, Mo., in 1998, will make the company's entry-level motorcycle, called the Sportster. The plant will also make some motorcycles for Buell Motorcycle Co., of which Harley-Davidson owns 49%.

The company hasn't made final decisions about plant work force and other matters, although a spokesman said initial employment will probably be about 300 workers.

Harley-Davidson, which has been riding a sales boom, told shareholders it plans capital expenditures of as much as $200 million this year, as much as $180 million next year and as much as $140 million in 1998. The motorcycle maker, whose capital spending in 1995 was $113 million, said the expenditures will come from internally generated funds.

At the company's annual meeting here, officials said they also plan to make major investments in and near Harley-Davidson's existing facilities in Milwaukee; Tomahawk, Wis.; and York, Pa. The company produced 105,100 motorcycles last year, and its goal by 2003 is to exceed 200,000 units annually.